A Quintessential Smut Story

I haven’t posted for the past few weeks because I’ve been super busy with work. When I finally had the spare time to read, I picked up the Dark in You series by Suzanne Wright. I was in the mood for something fun, sexy, and quick. To me, that means Paranormal Romance. But while this series did have all those things I wanted, I found myself not really enjoying it as much…

And I wondered, am I evolving as a reader? Do I not like smut anymore? Or is it just because I wasn’t particularly impressed with this series or author? Let’s unpack this.

Haven’t read the Dark in You series? Get them on Book Depository!

1. Burn
2. Blaze
3. Ashes
4. Embers (Coming July 3, 2018)

Fated Mates

One common trope in PR smut stories is called “Fated Mates”. It’s kind of like the way wolves and penguins mate for life. The hero and heroine in this case are destined to be together. They are perfect for each other, even though they may not think it at first. The tension in the story could be internal, in that one or both of them push back against the matehood. Or, it could be external in that someone or some group doesn’t want them to be together for one reason or another.

In Dark in You, the trope is introduced through the concept of “Anchors”. The storyworld is about demons who live among humans in plain sight. Demons have a duality about them. There’s the sane “human” side who is in control and there’s the psychotic “entity” side who is powerful, fierce, and amoral. This entity could gain dominance and go rogue. To prevent that from happening, demons have “anchors” which are not fated mates per se because the connection isn’t necessarily romantic or sexual. But it’s kinda hard not to fall for your anchor since you have to spend a lot of time with them.

Knox Thorne and Harper Wallis, the main characters in the series, are anchors. And they fall in love, of course.

Image from StockSnap via Pixabay

Sexy Scenes

Right off the bat, Know Thorne story reminds me a lot of Christian in the 50 Shades of Gray series by E.L. James and Gideon from The Crossfire series by Sylvia Day. They are dominant men who are moguls in their respective industries. They’re super rich and when they want something, they go for it. It’s no surprise that they are dominant in bed as well.

Harper Wallis is not a submissive woman by nature. She’s quite independent and truly doesn’t care about what other people think or say about her. She speaks her mind and she is assertive about what she wants. But, in the bedroom, she doesn’t mind being submissive to Knox.

Sex is a huge part of their relationship. If you like explicit sex scenes with a little bit of dirty talk, I think you will like the smut in this series. I don’t believe there are any toys or ropes featured, but it’s rough, guys, so keep that in mind.

Although, I will say that there are less sex scenes as the series progresses.

Pitting Women against Women

Is it just me or was there a lot of hate between women in this series? I’m talking about how Harper’s enemies are mostly women and they hate each other because they were Knox’s former lovers.

Case in point: Isla the Prime, Kendra the Assassin, and Alethea The Dolphin

All these women hate Harper because she’s who Knox chose instead of them. Granted, Knox is hot. But the hate is so strong for something so shallow. I mean, if I were in the same position, I will of course feel a little mean and a little jealous towards Harper. But I would probably deplore Knox more. And I probably will want revenge against Knox by finding myself my own man- and not trying to kill Harper.

I want your guys’ thoughts on this. Because, in my opinion, the whole thing is just another case of women pitting against women. Like, why can’t the women’s lives and motivations center around something else other than Knox?!

Harper Kidnapped Again

In all three books, Harper was kidnapped. It felt like the same story over and over again. There’s a bad guy, trying to hurt Knox through Harper. Despite all attempts to keep her safe, she is kidnapped. Then, she is saved somehow. The end.

I need a little bit more originality and spice here.

Image source

Too much “I’m Sorry” and “It’s not your fault” in the Dialogue

When Harper gets kidnapped, her bodyguards or friends always apologize because it wouldn’t have happened if they had done this or that. After which, Harper tells them it’s not their fault. It’s the bad guy’s fault. This happened so many times, it’s pretty much all the dialogue in the series.

First of all, yes her bodyguards were incompetent. They were built up to be total badasses, but when the time comes, the bad guy still manages to overpower them. It was clear that they were so easily overpowered for the sake of the story to move forward.

Second of all, yes it is their fault that she got kidnapped. And it’s also partially Harper’s fault because she pushed back on every security measure that Knox wanted. And it’s also partially the author’s fault because she could’ve chosen the dialogue to go a different way, for the characters to express how sorry they are for what Harper experienced and at the same time not to have taken the blame for something they couldn’t have prevented.

Bun in the Oven, Of Course

I’m actually kind of excited that Knox and Harper have a baby now. It’s something that some of my favorite PR couples have gone through and has made their story better. Hopefully, there’ll be no more kidnapping in the next book.

Overall, I thought the series was an “okay” read. There were parts that I found interesting and there were parts that I found problematic.